A cobporation of



C. E. FORRY.

METHOD OF SEALING CANS.

, APPLICATION FILED APR. 6, 1917.

1,363,581,, I Patented Dec. 28, mm.

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INVENTOR. WITNESS. w (5 1,

BY 1 i M ATTORNEY.

sraras swear errace.

CHARLES E. roaaY, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, assrenoia TO AMERICAN canCOMPANY, OF sen FnAnCIsCo, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION or. new JEiasnY.

METHOD OF SEALING CANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 192%).

Application filed April 6, 1917. Serial NO. 160,117.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. FORRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of SealingCans, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a method of forming a hermetic seal, ofthe so-called sanitary or solderless type, between the bot and the endsof cans used for the preservation of food products or other materials.

It is well known in the art that the most satisfactory method ofsecuring a tight and permanent seal is by the employment of a gasketring liner between the adjacent flanges of the can body and the end,said liner being preferably formed of paper.

In Order to avoid mutilation of the ring liner, it has been foundnecessary to apply the same loosely to the flange of the can end, and toprovide means for loosely retaining said liner within said flange duringthe operation. of placing the end upon the can body preparatory tosealing.

The means commonly employed for retaining the ring liner within theflange has been the curling of the outer edge portion of said flangeinwardly, to overlie the outer edge of the liner. The ring liner hashere tofore been placed in the flange of the can end, and looselyretained therein by the stated means, to permit said end to be invertedinto position upon the can body.

This has proven satisfactory where the end and the can body aresubsequently permanently united by the so-called double seaming process,in which the adjacent flanges of body and end are inter-folded andclamped together, the stiflness of the metal itself being relied upon tohold the seam. But when a separate metallic sealing strip is crimpedover the adjacent flanges, to hold the same together, it isimpracticable to curl the outer edge portion of the flange of the end,and therefore the ring liner cannot be loosely retained in said flangeby this means, prior to the placing of the end upon the can body.

The present invention provides a method of sealing cans in which thering liner is applied to the flange of the can body. Under this method,the flange of the can end can be of the simplest possible form, topermit the use of a separate sealing strip, and furthermore, the canends can be placed in stack format-ion, inverted and otherwise handledin any desired manner in their application to the can bodies. The ringliners, resting within the flange of the can bodies, are safe frommutilation, and need no retaining means, since the can bodies are neverhandled in a manner likely to disturb said liners. Thus my inventionpermits the use of a loose ring liner in combination with a separatesealing strip. The advantages of these two features are well known inthe art, and therefore need not be entered into herein, but it should benoted, in this connection, that my invention does not restrict theprocess to the use of a sealing strip, since the adjacent flanges of thebody and end may be double seamed, if it be so desired. I

A; preferred form of can end seal, and several modifications thereof,all made according to the process which constitutes my invention, areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a can sealed by my improved method.

Fig. 2 is a section showing a portion of the can body and the can endand the co operating flanges thereof, prior to the seaming operation.

Fig. 3 is a similar section after the seam has been completed.

Figs. t and 5 are sections, similar to Figs. 2 and 3 respectively,illustrating a seam formed by a modification of my process.

Figs. 6 and 7 are sections, similar to Figs. 2 and 3 respectively, of aseam formed by a secondmodification of my process.

. Figs. 8 and 9 are sections, similar to Figs. 2 and 3 respectively,showing a seam formed according to my invention, the separate seal 'ingstrip being replaced by the well known double-seamed joint.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 designates a can body,'and 2the end or cover applied thereto. The body 1 is formed with an annularoutwardly turned flange 3, bounded on the outside by an upwardly orlineally directed rim 4, the flange 3 being transverse to and the rim 4substantially parallel with the side wall of the body.

A ring liner 5 is positioned upon the body flange 3 and allowed to restloosely thereupon. The end 2 is also placed upon said flange 3, theliner 5 being interposed between said end and said flange. The end.2 isformed with a lineally or outwardly directed flange 6, adapted to lieimmediately inside therim 4; of the body flange, and to of my process, Iform an interior flange or be substantially parallel thereto. A seal ingstrip 7, of substantially U-shaped section, is placed over said upturnedparallel flanges 4' and 6 for the entire periphery of the can. The outerside of the sealing strip 7 is wider than the inner side, so that whensaid strip is clamped upon said flanges 4 and 6, the edge of its outerside is curled under thelateral portion 3 of the body flange, as shownat 8 in Fig. 3 of the drawings. This securely locks the strip 7 inposition, to pre Vent the same" from slipping off the flanges andpermitting the seam to open. At one end of the sealing strip, aprojecting tab 9, Fig. 1, is preferably formed to provide means forgrasping said strip to remove it when it is desired to open the can.

The seam may be formed as shown in Figs. 4 and-5 of the drawings. In themaking of this form of scam, the edge of the can body flange 6 is curledoutwardly, as at 10 in Fig; 4, and when the seam is completed,

this curled portion 10 of said can body flange forms a shoulder overwhich the outer side of the sealing strip 7 is looked, as shown at'll,in Fig. 5. In this case, said outer side .of the sealing strip 7 neednot be extended under the lateral portion 3 of the body flange, as isdone in thepreviously' described form. p

In the seam shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings, the edge of the canend flange 6 'is inwardly curled, as at 12 in Fig. 6, thus forming, whenthe seam. is completed, a

shoulder over which the inner side of the sealing strip? is locked, asat 13in Fig. 7 and providing additional means for retain ing said stripin position.

Although I prefer to employ a separate sealing strip for holding-thebody and end flanges in sealing relation, the principles of theinvention maybe employed to form a seam retained by the double-seamingprocess, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 of the drawings. Under thismodification of my method, the edges of the flanges of both body and endare outwardly'turned, as at 10' and .14 respectively, and the'peripheralportion of said end flange" 14 is downwardly curled as at 15, and theadjacent flanges thus formed are then interfolded to form a secure seam,as'shown in Fig. 9. V

It is to be noted that in all modifications shoulder within the end ofthe can body, within which the gasket liner is placed, and

upon which the can end is clamped to form a'tight seal,'by-the seamingoperation.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is 1 1. A method of securing covers to cans,consisting in shaping the end of a can body to form a shoulder thesurface of which ex-' tends at substantially a right angle to the axisof the ban," and forming a flange por tion which extends endwise withreference to the can from the outer part of said shoulder; placing agasket on said shoulder; plac mg a can endon said body, said can endbeing formed with a radial part which rests in contact with the gasketonsaid shoulder and being formed with a flange portion which extends insealing position parallel with said'flange portion of the body; andapplying a sealing strip so as to embrace the flange portions of thebody and cover and so as to produce suflicient pressure on said flangesto make a sealed joint betweenthe shoulder of the body and the gasketand the cover. 7 1

2. The method of hermetically sealing sheet metal cans having flangedbodies and flanged ends, which consists in forming a sealing joint byinterposing a gasket 'between inner portions of said flanges at a pointbetween the interior of the can and the extremities of both of saidflanges of the body and end, and then forming a securing seam by tightlyuniting together with pressure the extremitiesof'both of said flanges atpoints beyond the gasket and thereby bringing pressure on the gasketwithout iri-

